No Clip

(Jared's POV)

Tempest / Office…

Tari is creating fire. Theo is shooting laser blasts from his fingers. Water is coming out of my hands.

"Ha ha! Yeah! Put 'em up, Tari, Jared!" Theo said, excitedly.

"Wah!" Tari cried, while this causes her to get very shocked as she throws her fireball accidentally. She turns to Lamar, Masa, and I. "Guys! Watch out!"

The fireball is aiming towards them as Masa sees this and dodges, I use the water to propel up into the air to dodge. Lamar on the other hand however.

"Oh okay…." Lamar said, getting hit by the fireball as he gets thrown off and demolished. "Guha!"

"AHHH!" Tari said, worried.

"He dead." Theo said, sadly.

"Oh my gosh! Sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Lamar respawns again next to Tari and I which startles the blue haired girl a bit, "Nah, it's all good! Ehhehehehe."

"I thought that was on purpose, I would've been impressed." Masa said, as Tari chuckles a bit. "Sofia, start the walkthrough, let's get this show on the road!"

"Hello Tari! Hello Jared! THIS IS GOD!" Sofia yelled, from outside the game, not exactly playing it.

"Hiya God!" Theo chirped.

"Sofia…" Masa said, annoyed.

"Ahahahahaha." Sofia said, laughing a bit. "Sorry. Couldn't resist! Ahem…Tari, Theo, and Jared. Welcome to Tempest! The magical battle Royale game that will REALLY blow you away! And I mean literally folks. If you haven't noticed yet, you are already in the area aptly named 'The Mountain' where you and a hundred other teams fight to the death!"

"Fight to the death?! BRING IT ON!" Theo said, starting shooting finger gun lasers. "Hahaha, pew pew pew pew!"

"…Should I be concerned?" Lamar asked.

"Spell Books are scattered throughout the mountain which will give you magical abilities to fight your opponents and get around. The last one standing wins!" Sofia said, excitedly.

"Sooo, get Spells, blast people. Sounds simple enough." Tari said, happily.

"Yeah. So, this is a lot like Fortnite." I said, smiling. "Getting weapons and blasting people."

"Heh, it's a lot more complicated than that." Masa said, looking between Tari and I.

"I had a feeling you'd say that…" Tari said, letting out a sigh.

"Sofia?"

"Yup, on it." Sofia said, starting typing as books then appeared for us.

"WHOA!" Tari said, at a loss for words.

"Awww books? No one said there'd be reading…" Theo said, frowning.

Masa grabs a book as he absorbs it and creates a purple ball of energy.

"There are dozens of Spells in Tempest, and each one has its own unique quirks and methods. If you want to last more than five minutes in this game, you're gonna have to learn them all. HEGH!" Masa said, tossing the energy ball up as it falls down. "HAGH!"

Masa wheel kicks the ball of energy as it explodes onto the wall.

"Uhh, okay." Tari said.

"Oh. Don't worry about old Doom and Gloom, Tari. These spells can be a lot of fun! Here check this out!" Lamar said, grabbing a book as he absorbs it. "Hehehehe."

Lamar then aims his hand downwards as he shoots a blast of wind to propel him upwards. He then also blasts the wind in front of him and side flips while being blown back onto land.

"WOAAHHH! That DOES look like fun!" Tari said, in awe.

"THIS IS ONE OF THE FASTEST WAYS TO MOVE AROUND!" Lamar yelled, as he was quite a distance away.

"Oh! I want to try!" Theo said, excitedly.

"Same." I said, walking over to a book to grab it, before absorbing it.

"Theo! Jared! Wait!" Masa said, worried.

Theo already grabs a book and absorbs it.

"Up, up, and away!" Theo said, and a pillar of earth spawns beneath him as it throws him onto the air. He is flying very far as he is falling out of the boundaries of the map. "Wheeeeeeeee! Ahahahaha weeeeeee!"

"Geronimo!" I said, while I used the book I absorbed to teleport around the map. "This boosted the teleportation ghost power I already had."

Theo then gets demolished as he then respawns again.

"Crackerjack! Let's do that again!" Theo said, trying to make a run for it again.

"Theo." I said, teleporting to Theo, I picked him up, to stop him. "Don't do that again, okay?"

"Theo, your job with Jared is to stay near us and protect Tari, think you can handle that?" Masa asked, looking at Theo.

"YEEEEEAAAAHHHH!" Theo said, starting shooting finger gun lasers.

"Then I guess the next big thing is to learn this glitch right?" Tari asked.

"Correct, use this Wind Burst Spell and launch yourself into the air." Masa said, grabbing the tome and giving it to Tari.

"Uh…okay." Tari said, receiving the tome before absorbing it. "Uh…How'd you do this again Lamar?"

"Oh, just press the A button." Lamar said.

"What?! I don't HAVE an A button!" Tari said, angrily.

"Um…say the magic word?"

"WAAAAHHH!" Tari said, somehow making a massive burst of wind that shoots her up.

"Oh well. Never mind…"

"WAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Okay. Good!" Sofia said, typing some stuff as she adjusts Tari's angle and speed. "Now brace yourself!"

"Brace for impact, Tari!" I said, while Sofia pressed the enter button.

"HUH?! BRACE MYSELF FOR WHA…" Tari said, as she is dragged forwards. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Tari braces herself for impact. She collides as a purple wave of electricity happens as she disappears as the game then glitches out.

"Eh, seen it before. I think I know what comes next." Theo said, happily.

Tari wakes up as she gasps.

"Huaaaaahhhhh!" Tari said, standing up a bit rattled. "Wh-what just happened?!"

"Tari." I said, spawning in with Theo. "You went through the floor. You glitched through it."

"Huh?!"

"That's a game-breaking glitch we call the 'Deep Mountain Clip'. Baaaasically if you hit the floor at the right angle and speed, you'll go through the level….and if you do this during the competition TASCorp servers will go down with it and I'll be able to hack right in!" Sofia said, excitedly.

"Is that all? That's so easy! Tari, all you gotta do is go fast." Theo said, happily.

"I was forced to skydive when I flew out of a plane." I said, smiling. "That day was invaded by Cybermen on Earth. It was a bit cloudy. Had to come up with a landing strategy on the fly."

"That was simple because we were in Training Mode. Tari, no one was attacking you, and Sofia could alter your speed and angle. It'll be nothing like that in the tournament." Masa said.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Well I'm ready to do this properly, regardless." Tari said.

"Okay then!" Sofia said, going back to take a seat with her computer. "Let's take it from the top! For this glitch to be remotely possible, you need to go to the top of the mountain."

"What?! The top?!" Tari exclaimed, in the game now.

"Don't worry. Just use that Wind Burst Spell you have and focus on scaling the mountain. Theo and Jared are already waiting up there for you!" Sofia said, excitedly.

"Hey Tari!" I said, angrily. "You got this."

Theo and I are waving.

"Oh man…" Tari said, letting out a sigh. "I'll try." She shoots the wind to the ground as she is thrown up. "WAAAAAHHHH!"

"Do you… think she'll learn this glitch in time?" Lamar asked, looking at Masa.

"I-I really hope so." Masa said, pressing the play button as Tempest started up for him. 

Both Lamar and Masa spawn into the game.

"Oh. Hey guys. Where's Tari?" Theo asked.

"AAAAAHHH…" Tari said, crashing to the ground. "Oof!"

"Oh. There you are!" Theo said, looking down at Tari.

"Ow…"

"Good job, Tari." I said, grabbing Theo's hand. "Now you have to jump off the mountain."

"What?! I just got here!" Tari yelled.

"Jumping off here is the only way to get enough speed to clip through the floor." Masa said.

"The Wind Burst Spell should be enough to propel you right off." Sofia said.

"Ugh, okay…" Tari said, using the Wind Burst Spell as she throws herself into the air falling off the mountain. "What do I do now?! SOFIA?!"

"Hey guys it's a shooting S-TARI!" Lamar said, laughing.

Masa and Sofia look at Lamar funny as I roll my eyes.

"Is now the time for a pun?" I asked, looking at Tari doing her free fall.l.

"Great! Now keep firing that Wind Burst Spell on your way down to gain momentum." Sofia said, happily.

Tari shoots a gust of wind to throw her back, "WAH!"

"55 km/h and 36 degrees are the numbers you want to hit, Tari!" Sofia said, angrily.

"WHAT IF I DON'T GET THE RIGHT ANGL…" Tari said, crashing to the floor, getting demolished. "…OOF!" 

"Ooooooohh..." Sofia said, frowning.

"That had to hurt." I said, and Tari respawned again.

"Tari! Are you okay?!" Theo exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tari said, sadly.

"You can see why this is hard, huh? When the competition's on, you're gonna have people attacking you too…" Lamar said, looking at Tari.

"Grreh! Okay, okay. Enter speed and angle of 55 km/h and 36 degrees right? I can do that."

"Try and use that 'Meta Runner vision' of yours. It should help with getting the right trajectory." Masa said.

"It really would. The interface of ALfheim Online doesn't have that." I said, squeezing Theo's hand.

"Oh! Right!" Tari said, taking a deep breath as she turned on her vision which showed her the best path to take. "Oh!" 

Tari then makes a run for it as she jumps and uses her Wind Burst Spell.

"You can do this, Tari!" I said, and Tari struggles to get to position but makes a fall where she misses being at the right position.

"WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Tari said, while she crashes into the ground. "AH!"

Tari respawns again.

"Yeah, you want to take a quick break? Load up some Crunchyroll or something?" Lamar asked.

"Sure." I said, loading up the UI of ALO and logging off the game. I removed the AmuSphere headset off my head, before placing it into my sling bag. "We could also watch some VTubers. I was thinking of listening to Mint & Matara's Summer Special Podcast."

"Matara is my kind of girl, Jared." Lamar said, smirking.

Tari just decides to go again which cues a montage of failures as she just crashes to the ground.

"That one hurt…" Tari said, respawning again.

(Open POV)

Bedroom…

Belle is playing Ultra Jump Mania as she fails to perform a glitch, "God damn it!"

Belle turns off the game to restart. 

Lucinia then walks into the room, "Hey…Everything okay in here?"

"Come on! Boost! BOOST!" Belle yelled.

"Oh, just the usual." Lucinia said, annoyed.

"Go away, Lucinia. Now is not the time." Belle said, sadly.

"Come on, I know the 'Games Done Fast Comp' is tomorrow…but staying up till 3:00 AM is not going to do you any good."

"NO! ARGH! GOD DAMNIT! AAAGGHHH!" Belle said, throwing her controller in rage.

"Hey, hey, hey, come on, Belle… get some sleep. You'll perform so much better rested up." Lucinia said, happily.

"But I haven't even remotely gotten close to the world record today… and everyone's expecting me to claim the title back tomorrow." Belle said, smiling.

"You. Will. Be. Fine. Stressing out now will only make you lose focus. Trust me on this one." Lucinia said, smirking.

"Yeah I guess." Belle said, letting out a sigh.

"And besides, you're one of the most talented speedrunners I know. Hell, you're a lot better than me, that's for sure."

"You really know what to say don't you?" Belle asked, while Lucinia smiles as she goes to bed. "There. I'm resting now. Happy?"

"Hehehe." Lucinia said, giggling. "Yeah. Good luck tomorrow. Then again, you've never needed luck." 

"You got that right!"

TASCorp…

"You seem concerned Belle…" Lucks said, on the computer as Belle looks at the cartridge of UJM with the Project Blue crest on it. "Belle?"

"What does that blue haired scrub have to do with Lucinia's death? And what's the hell is Project Blue anyways?" Belle asked.

"I've had a search in our company database. There's been no record at all of Tari or Project Blue. I've also done a search on Jared. He doesn't exist in this time period. If you want answers, then you're going to have to go find Tari or Jared." Lucks said.

Belle picks up the cartridge then gives it to Lucks. Belle then walks away as Lucks looks at some files before placing the tablet onto the drawer. However, before placing the tablet, he sees the gun inside it. As Lucks looks at it for a bit, he ultimately just closes the drawer.

(Jared's POV)

Office…

Lamar is sleeping with his body pillow. I am snacking on some chocolate chip cookies.

"Hmm hmmmm hmmm!" Sofia said, out to take care of some bowls.

Masa and I are still looking at the screen.

"ERRRRRR!!! This….this is too hard!" Tari said, in the game.

"Keep practicing, you'll get it soon. I know you will." Masa said.

Office / Tempest…

"Urgghh! It's no use! I tried this hundreds of times already and I don't feel any closer!" Tari said, angrily.

"Tari… You can do this. You just have to believe. You know…..belieeeeeeeeevveeeee…." Theo said, happily.

"Okay, let's go again." Tari said, letting out a sigh.

Tari then walks to the side of the cliff as she attempts to try again. She takes a deep breath as she then uses the Wind Burst Spell this time she does a gainer like flip before falling down and rocketing herself downwards as she spins around and using her Meta Runner vision to calculate the path she needs to take as this time she goes take the path perfectly with no difficulties as then she makes the collision where this time it finally glitches the game out. 

Office…

Tari then wakes back up to the real world, "Huuuaaaaa! I- I DID IT!"

"Huuh. Huh. Wha?!" Lamar exclaimed, jolting and waking up.

"OH MY GOSH! I DID IIIIIT!" Tari said, excitedly.

"I knew it! I knew you could do it! Whoo!" Sofia cheered.

"Tari, you did amazing." I said, tossing a chocolate chip cookie into my mouth.

"Yeah!" Theo said, spawning before glitching. "Tari!"

"Whooo! Let's celebrate! Sake on me!" Lamar yelled.

"No." Masa said, looking at Tari. "You're only going to have one shot at this in the competition. Not to mention other players attacking you while you're doing it…and we haven't even touched on combat yet. You need to get back in there and do it again. We need you to get this."

"Hmmm…Fine…" Tari said, annoyed.

"Don't worry, Tari. You did it once, you can do it again." Sofia said, smiling.

"We're gonna train you and Jared up too, little man. Gonna need all that help you can to pull this off." Lamar said, looking between Theo and I.

"Yeah! We'll be a five man death squad!" Theo said, giving me a high five.

"That sounds like fun." I said, lifting Theo off the ground. "Love it."

Lamar smiles a bit while also looking a bit concerned as well.